


this little universe between our backs

by electrumqueen



Category: Hunger Games trilogy - Collins
Genre: F/M, First Time, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-25
Updated: 2010-04-25
Packaged: 2017-10-09 03:26:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrumqueen/pseuds/electrumqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>this is how they fall in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	this little universe between our backs

**Author's Note:**

> **this little universe between our backs**  
> annie/finnick.  
> pg, no real warnings.  
> title + cut text from _little favours _by kt tunstall; characters + setting from suzanne collins.  
> prompt from [](http://pearlesque.livejournal.com/profile)[**pearlesque**](http://pearlesque.livejournal.com/) : 'pick a star on the dark horizon' + heartbeat + shadow.  
> _this is how they fall in love_.

this is how they fall in love:

(she calls it fate; he calls it an accident but thinks she must be right.)

she is wearing a blue dress. her hair is a mess. she is a pretty girl but not overly so; it is the brightness in her eyes that makes her attractive.

she is saying, "i am about to be sick."

he says, "take a deep breath."

she laces her fingertips together, over her diaphragm, and sucks in air as though she is drowning.

he puts his hand on her shoulder and says, "relax, you're going to be okay." (at the time he is unaware that he is lying.)

\--

she sits, knees pulled up to her chest, on the edge of his bed, and stares out the wide expanse of his window.

"hey," he says.

she startles at the sound of his voice. "i can't do this," she says, shaking. "i'm going to _die_."

he sits next to her, long legs dangling off the edge of the bed. "no," he says, "you're not." (he has never done this before: hence, the optimism.)

she sighs and twists around and presses her mouth to his with a quiet desperate exhalation of breath.

he startles. "what--"

"i'm not going to be a virgin sacrifice," she says, slowly, biting her lip. "i'm _not_. do this for me-- please?"

he drops his forehead against hers, feeling her shiver against him. he remembers this feeling: the loneliness, pressing against his heart, stifling the beat of it. he fits his hand to the curve of her cheek, and makes it good.

\--

the darkness hangs across the night sky, so the lamps cast long elegant shadows across the floor and their feet. she slips her hand into his and says, _it's dark out,_ _but there are stars_, and he drops a kiss on the top of her head and says, _yeah._

the steady rhythm of her breath settles in his chest, and for the first time in his life he thinks about forever.

"pick one," she says, curved up against him, all fragile bones and bare skin-- there isn't enough muscle to take her through a fight. "a star."

"what?" he asks, distracted by the_ thump thump thump _of her heart against his palm, by the edge of salt caught in the scent of her hair.

"pick a star," she says. "so i can think of you. stars are constant. they don't change."

he tightens his arms around her and picks the brightest, fiercest star, so that she can know someone is out there, for her.

\--

she stumbles out of the arena, dripping wet and gasping, eyes flat and hollow.

he catches her in his arms and murmurs, _oh annie_, and she falls into him, breathing out like_ relief _and she says, _i saw the star, finn, i saw the star_, and throws her exhausted arms around him, too tight for either of them to breathe. the seawater seeps through his expensive, beautiful clothes, so they are the same now, joined in the knowledge that they survived, and the wetness and harsh stink of the sea.

the cameras start whirring, and he runs his hands over her hair and says, "annie cresta, everybody," as she presses herself against him. the applause is enough to break his heart.


End file.
